"Senior" racquet talk

Just wondering - now that i am a senior - man - i hate getting old.
but anyway - i have found that i love going back to my older racquets.
now that i have passed the 60 year mark - been playing since 1967 when we played with the old wooden racquets - they must have weighted at least 14 or 15 oz back then.
i went to the wilson T-2000 and T-3000 then back to wood again.
stopped playing for several years and then came back to a mid size head racquet then on a wilson hyper hammer. that thing weighted all of 9.6 oz - my arm has never fully recovered.
now back the prince, fischer and wilson heavier more flexable racquets.
love them.
how about other senior players. what has been your racquet journey and have you came back to the classics as well????

I started out with a Spalding Goncho Gonzales wooden model.
Then went to a Bancroft Borg model- still wooden.
PK Bronze Dominator- played with it 12 years
Volkl V1 - played with it about 6 months
Volkl C10 Pro Tour - still using it off and on
Technifibre VO 2 Max XL- using this off and on
Kneissl Tom's Machine- ( green version) using it off and on

The last three mentioned are the ones I carry with me when I play. I bring two of each to the courts.

I consider the C10 Pro Tour more of a classic weighted racquet. I have mine wighted up to 13.6 oz, the Technifibre at 13.5 oz and the Kneissl at 12.5 oz. To me they have that old school feel to them.

Yes, similar - heading well into super seniorhood. It all started with a Spalding woodie - so many after that - two stand out: Kramer Pro Staff wood and Head Master...

Spent too, too mamy years trying to play the "new" stiff & light stuff - almost quit the game... Then better with a Head Microgel Midplus (with lead)and loose natural gut. Plays OK with traditional strokes. Then, the heavens opened, and I stumbled upon some classic 80's softer stuff and the game is fun and predictable again. Yes, I can hit hard and flat and the ball will stay in... too much fun again...

Spalding Smasher(Pancho stick) was the first racket I purchase, Wilson woods in college ending with the Cliff Richey Ultra, Ashe comps, Yamaha YFG's 30,50 & 70. Kawasaki Rulers to CP001s(mid), then back to YAMAHA Ceramics. White Star Twin Pro Kennex Silver ace then the Ceramic Destiny.
Settled on the Prince _port frames for the last five years.

my journey revolves always around the most demanding racquets no matter my age at all
Hey Seniors challenge yourself each time you step on the court otherwise your game is gonna go down the hill pretty fast!

my journey revolves always around the most demanding racquets no matter my age at all
Hey Seniors challenge yourself each time you step on the court otherwise your game is gonna go down the hill pretty fast!

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Very well said. It is so easy to stand there and slap at the ball or push it back over the net. Good wake-up call.

^ that's truly what I think....I'm almost 53, still among the fastest guys in the club where I play. I have the endurance to play couple of hours a singles match or whatever is necessary to finish it.
Common Seniors kick some ass.... you still can!

Like some others, I started with a Spalding Pancho Gonzales($5.65 @ Western Auto!), bought a NINE dollar Gonzales a year or so later and then the Spalding Smasher. The early '70s brought all sorts of new shapes and constructions. Fortunately, I started working in a tennis shop in '72. The list of rackets I actually played with would fill a few pages in this thread, I reckon.

I have 'replicated' some of those early models from my tennis 'youth'. The original Gonzales, couple of Smashers, T3000, Arthur Ashe Competition from the earliest years; Yonex YY7500, Rawlings Tie Breaker, Red Head, Slazenger Professional(wood), Fischer Superform from the later '70s.

Could fill a room IF I had kept all my personal playing frames from my rep days with Rossignol, Pro Kennex, Dunlop, Yonex, Puma and Yamaha. The only frame I actually have from those days is a prototype Kennex Micro Mid. Enjoyed playing with that stick off and on for a year. Still hit it from time to time.

I started out with a $2.00 wooden racket from the dime store when I was 12 and just learning the game.

After a few years I got a $7.00 Wilson (wood press included) from a Sporting Goods store. It had black and white trim and *red* strings! I played with that racket until sophmore year in college when I lost in an intramural tournament to a T 2000. I bought a used T 2000 and played with that until senior year when I lost to an Arthur Ashe Competition.

I bought *that* AAC, made the tennis team as a walk on, and earned a varsity letter. I played with that racket from then on until entering a layoff period when I only played maybe once or twice a year for the next 30.

During the second half of that layoff, I dabbled with a Becker Super, Prince Pro 110, and a Prince Precision Graphite before ending my long layoff and joining up with some serious weekend players a couple years back.

Since then, and after joining TT, I learned about and acquired some used POGs. The 90, OS and LB, all of which are "serving" me well.

However, in the last few months I've done a 360 and have been playng with wood again. I found a Jack Kramer Autograph, the racket the best players in my college conference were using at the time, and I love it.

I'll be hitting with it come spring, and can't wait to see how I play with it. I think I'll do fine as long as I don't come up against a T 2000…

I started playing around 1970 at age 11, using one of my dad's old woodie's. He gave me a Rosewall seamless at about age 13, that I beat the crap out of. It was replaced by a Stan Smith W, and a Maxply Fort that carried me thru college. Not much Tennis to speak of until my 17 year old step son got me playing again a few years ago. Started with a 110 Prince, and shortly to a 100", then a ""player's" Ozone Pro Tour 100 18 x20", then recently a PK "Laver Type C 93 Mid..." I am finding much love in the "old school" approach.

^ that's truly what I think....I'm almost 53, still among the fastest guys in the club where I play. I have the endurance to play couple of hours a singles match or whatever is necessary to finish it.
Common Seniors kick some ass.... you still can!

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have been playing with a friend of mine 15 years my junior, cannot find anyone my age to play with.
i was beating him on a regular basis until i hurt my arm again. from the other post, hurt my arm about 3 years ago using the darn Wilson hyper hammer.
never really fully recovered.
now i am taking the ASTYM therapy - so let's hope for the best.
hope to be playing again in a few weeks if i am lucky.

have been playing with a friend of mine 15 years my junior, cannot find anyone my age to play with.
i was beating him on a regular basis until i hurt my arm again. from the other post, hurt my arm about 3 years ago using the darn Wilson hyper hammer.
never really fully recovered.
now i am taking the ASTYM therapy - so let's hope for the best.
hope to be playing again in a few weeks if i am lucky.

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Good luck! My arms are just fine...it's the wheels that are lacking . So far, my decision to skip the 'recommended' knee replacement is working out okay. Twenty-five mile bike ride tomorrow but still haven't been on the court this year. Hard to believe after over 35 years of tennis. Having easy access to soft courts 'might' help me, but those are few and far between here in central Texas.

It's not easy to do, but if you can figure out what strokes actually hurt your arm and can just do everything else, at least you could stay on the court. Back in the old days, I probably went three weeks without hitting a backhand(during my worst TE in the '80s). Got halfway decent at hitting 'off hand'(lefty for me).

^ that's truly what I think....I'm almost 53, still among the fastest guys in the club where I play. I have the endurance to play couple of hours a singles match or whatever is necessary to finish it.
Common Seniors kick some ass.... you still can!

No, the Blackbird was a Graphite/Boron frame with a brown lacquer finish from around 1988.
Oliver was taken over by a German company in the late 1980's.
They still maufacture rackets today.
Check the German version of the big auction site.
The racket looks a lot like the german GrapHit from W. Bungert.

I haven't had money or commitment to buy high end rackets (no Babolat for me!) so I make do with whatever racket I have.

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i understand completely, i do not care for the high end modern racquets of today. most of the ones i have seen (Babolat or Wilson) are too stiff for my little skinny arms anyway.
you can find some really good deals on flea bay and TW (especially in the winter) on some really great old classics. I have bought several Prince, Wilson, Fox and others for almost nothing - usually around $10-20 + shipping. Had them restrung and they play like they were brand new.
Last winter i bought a POG for around $14.50 i think and this year i got 2 Wilson Reflexes for $25.00 for both.
Hang in there, we are still playing even at our age and that is a miracle in of itself.